B.C. Mountie who first raised issue of systemic harassment moves step closer to being dismissed from force

RCMP Cpl. Catherine Galliford speaks at a news conference in 2004. She has filed a lawsuit against the RCMP alleging sexual abuse by former colleagues. Photo by Glenn Baglo, Vancouver Sun

The RCMP is moving to dismiss Cpl. Catherine Galliford, the high-profile Mountie whose claims of systemic harassment within the force prompted a flood of similar complaints.

Galliford, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and has been on sick leave since 2006, said a “notice of intent to discharge” was delivered to her home earlier this week. The letter states that the force is seeking her dismissal “for reason of physical and/or mental disability.”

“This discharge is based on the grounds that your disability has impaired your ability to perform your duties … and the limitations and occupational restrictions resulting from your condition are such that accommodation elsewhere in the force has not been possible,” the letter states.

It says that a health services officer concluded that she was unfit for either operational or administrative duties and that this inability was considered permanent.

The letter also states that Galliford did not respond to a previous letter, which gave her 30 days to come forward to discuss possible “workplace accommodations” within the force.

As of April, the force had delivered similar letters to more than 30 employees who were on long-term leave. An updated number was not available Friday and it is not clear how many have since been discharged.

RCMP officials have previously said the force cannot continue to pay full salaries indefinitely to employees whose health prevents them from performing their duties.

In a memo released in February, Commissioner Bob Paulson urged members to reject the “spin” that the force was targeting employees who had filed harassment complaints.

But Galliford, who filed a lawsuit last year in British Columbia Supreme Court alleging she was sexually assaulted and bullied for years, said Friday she believes that’s precisely what the force is doing.

“They want to get rid of me because I complained,” she said.

At the same, Galliford, a former RCMP spokeswoman, acknowledged that she could never work for the force again because the environment is “too toxic.”

“The RCMP will accommodate me back to work. Unfortunately, however, the RCMP broke my brain. And so I have PTSD. In order for me to go back to work, I have to be healthy and the RCMP have done nothing to help me with that.”

Receiving the notice of intent to discharge, she said, is probably “more of a blessing than anything else so I can move forward.”

The notice states that a three-member medical review board will be appointed to “determine the degree of your impairment” and that she can nominate a medical practitioner to be her representative on the board.

Galliford first went public with her allegations of abuse and intimidation in late 2011. That prompted others to come forward with similar allegations.

Several lawsuits and a proposed class-action lawsuit have been filed against the force.

A report earlier this year by the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, which reviewed more than 700 harassment complaints lodged by employees between 2005 and 2011, urged the force to take “concrete” and “measurable” steps to improve its handling of harassment allegations.

The force has said it has implemented a number of measures, including centralizing oversight of harassment complaints, revising its internal harassment policy and developing new “respectful workplace” training.

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